Like we used to be
by WhisperOfTheSnow
Summary: Ichimaru and Matsumoto went their separate ways after joining the Gotei 13, and Rangiku feels hurt. What will happen when Ichimaru decides to continue where the left off? Set many years before the Soul Society arc.
1. Chapter 1

_**Notes: **_

**A fanfic about one of my fav couples from Bleach, Ichimaru+Matsumoto:D The first chapter is pretty innocent… :3 Hope you guys like it! Please read and review! Thank you:)**

**I do not own any of the Bleach characters (obviously). **

**Here's a list of some of the terms I used, to make the reading easier for you:**

_**reiatsu – spirit force**_

_**Zanpakuto – Shinigami (Death God) sword **_

_**taicho – captain**_

_**Gotei 13 – 13 Division Imperial Guards**_

_**shoji – room dividers made of paper**_

**1. Something new**

A long, drawn-out sigh was heard from behind a huge pile of documents, as Matsumoto Rangiku tried to suppress a yawn, which was threatening to come out any second. She already lost count of how many hours she had spent in the office of the 10th division, but the pile did not seem to decrease at all. Bright-blue eyes, filled with frustration gazed lazily over the room and to the window. The weather was magnificent – great for anything, _but _paperwork. Then again, Matsumoto wasn't sure if there was any time _at all_ that would suit such a boring task. Her captain – the responsible man that he was – would probably help her out, once the current captain meeting was over. But of course Rangiku – the responsible vice-captain that she opted to be – wouldn't dare to pass on her duties… well, completely, that is. She took a deep breath, shook her head, and practically dove into the paper in front of her.

„_Yosh! Just a bit more…" _she thought, encouraging herself, when a strong wave of _reiatsu _hit her senses. She instantly raised her head and looked at the door – naturally expecting her white-haired captain to be back. But the man standing at the door was someone else. Someone, whom she hadn't seen so up close for a very long time.

„Workin' when no one's lookin', instead o' slackin' away in the sunshine – my, my, so Rangiku has changed a lot indeed…" said Ichimaru, with his arms crossed on his chest, leaning against the door, with his trademark grin getting wider.

„Ichimaru… taicho…" said Rangiku, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding.

„Taicho?" said Ichimaru, raising a single brow at her „since when are _we_ on such official terms, dear Rangiku?"

„_Ever since you ignored me and went your own way, after we both got into Gotei 13…_" thought Rangiku – that, and much more, but in her slightly petrified state she said nothing. Instead she gave a slight coughing sound.

„Err… then Gi..." her sentence was interrupted by Hitsugaya's arrival through the other door.

„Her words were correct." he said, looking and Ichimaru „And it's Vice-captain Matsumoto for you." he added, in a slightly deeper tone. Ichimaru said nothing, so Hitsugaya continued. „What do you want, Ichimaru?"

„Oh my, are we u'friendly t'day" said the taller man, grinning „Jus' came to pick up th'se reports on the mission fro' last week."

„Could've sent one of your subordinates, _captain_." said Hitsugaya, now walking over to Matsumoto's table and picking up a file from the pile, which – to Matsumoto's great relief – she had already finished. He handed it to Ichimaru, who put it away, while taking out another file.

„I also need yo' to go thru' this one. 'Tis when our divisions work'd together two days ago. I'll need it back tho'." said Ichimaru, turning to leave, but stopped in his tracks and glanced back at Matsumoto „Oh, and 'tis ok if you'd send a subordinate, _captain_." and with that he left.

Hitsugaya sighed and looked at the file while walking towards his office, which was right next to Rangiku's. Matsumoto sat down and hid behind her pile again, still with a confused look on her face. Many questions were racing through her head, but those repeating themselves were mostly „why" and especially „why now". She and Ichimaru were childhood friends, who had made their way up to the elite class of the Shinigami world. Back then she would've even – naively – called themselves lovers, because of the few kisses they have shared. But shortly after their acceptance into the Gotei 13, Ichimaru started neglecting her, if not avoiding her. At first she was angry and frustrated, but with time these feelings faded away. The closest they got in the past year or so was when she congratulated him on the ceremony when he got promoted to captain. But now… it was almost as if…

„MATSUMOTOO!!" came the loud call from Hitsugaya's office and shook her back to reality. He had been apparently calling her name continuously in the past minute or so. She blushed and ran to his office, apologizing and bowing on her way.

„Never mind that." he said, and handed her a file. „Take this back to Ichimaru's office."

Matsumoto's back stiffened for a second, but a moment later she bowed to her captain and rushed out of his office. As she got out of the main building of the 10th division, she slowed down, and absent-mindedly fixed her hair and her uniform. „_Doesn't hurt to look good, after all…_" she thought to herself. As she passed a little pond she tried to examine her make-up in the reflection, but failed to do so, since the sun had already set and her reflection remained a gray blur. „_When did it get dark…?_" she thought for a second, then hurried away towards the main building of the 3rd division.

Most of the windows of the building were dark – nobody lived in the main building after all, they just worked there. And with the fall of the evening, most work was finished or left for the day after, and the members of the 3rd squad returned to their homes in the surrounding buildings.

Matsumoto made her way to the staircase leading to the main office. As expected, a dim light was visible through the beige-colored _shoji _and Matsumoto knelt before the entrance. Her introduction was interrupted before it began by a voice from inside.

„Com' on in, Rangiku" said Ichimaru. Obviously her _reiatsu_ provided enough information about her identity, and she mentally cursed herself for forgetting about that. She entered the room and bowed – to his back, apparently, as he was kneeling towards his table.

„I'm deeply sorry for interrupting you, but I must deliver…"

„Rangiku, relax!" he interrupted her. She looked up and saw him facing her and leaning back against the table with his elbows rested on it. She was confused, but more importantly she felt the good old feeling of frustration return to her – a feeling she thought she discarded years ago. At least towards _him_.

„What... do you want…" she paused, but then added „…Gin?"

His grin widened into a smile and tilted his head a little to the side.

„'Tis." he stated. „Closeness. With you. Again." he added, each word separated by slight pause.

„I'm not sure I understand…" began Matsumoto „…you mean, after all these years, all of a sudden you just want to be friends again?" she finished with disbelief in her voice.

„No." he stated and leant in closer to her still half-way bowed form „I want to continue where we left off." he added with a smirk.

Before she could process the heard information, Ichimaru circled his right hand around her neck and kissed her. Aquamarine-blue eyes snapped wide open, but her confusion didn't allow her any other movement than that. A few – very long – seconds later she was aware of her surroundings – his tight hold around her, his silver strands brushing her forehead, his way too familiar scent in her nose, his lips kissing hers – and she forcefully broke out of his hold and bumped against the _shoji_ behind her, her face expressing both surprise and shock at the same time. But even in this state she caught the hurt face expression Ichimaru made for a split second, before it was replaced by a small grin.

„Well well, kinda tho'ght it wouldn't go as easy as I imagin'd…" he said.

„You thought?!" Rangiku slowly regained full control of her senses and her frustration was accelerating. „What? I mean… What did you_ think_ would happen? That I'd… I'd jump into your arms and that's it?!"

„Well... kinda hoped…" he said, his grin growing.

„HOW??" she was yelling now, and made a move to stand up, but he grabbed her wrist and pinned it to the floor, thus making her fall back to her previous position.

„Yo, Rangiku, wanna wake tha entire 3rd squad?" he said laughing and she felt herself blush. The hand pressed against her own… the closeness of the person she once held dear… she still…

„Well… I thought…" he continued calmly, regaining her attention „now that we don't have to think 'bout promotions an' stuff, we'd… have mo' free time, and…"

Surprisingly, his clumsy reasoning calmed her, and she relaxed her posture.

„Promotions?? Really?" she said, half-teasingly „For your information, I'm still a rank away from the top, so I still have a lot of work ahead."

„Oh really? So how's yo' bankai trainin' comin'?" he teased, his grin widening completely, knowing Rangiku's lazy side all too well.

„Bastard!" she said smiling and freed her hand, pushing him away with the same move. „I don't _need_ it; I may just as well go and kill _you_ and take the position of the 3rd division captain." They teased each other as if those years of alienation never happened, it seemed to her.

„And tha's comin' from someone who forgot her Zanpakuto when enterin' enemy territory" he said, pointing at her waist, which was lacking its most deadly feature, _Haineko_.

„Enemy?" she asked, raising a single brow at him.

„Am I not?" he shot back with a smirk.

She was confused again, and just like in a de ja vu, he leant forward and kissed her again, except this time it was much more gentle, and even though she hesitated at first, moments later she finally gave in and kissed him back. He put one hand around the back of her neck and the other around her waist, while at the same time deepening the kiss. She brought her hands up and dug into his silver hair that she loved so much. Remaining in their sitting positions they tried to move as close to each other as possible, and soon they were practically melted into each other. A light breeze came through the open window and blew away the little candle on Ichimaru's desk, covering the kissing couple in the darkness and secrecy of the night.

_**-**__** to be continued - **_

_**by: Whisper of the Snow**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Notes: **_

_**Chapter 2:) WARNING: Rated M for a reason!!!**_

_**I do not own any of the Bleach characters. I'm just writing for fun. :)**_

_**My little „dictionary" again:**_

_**Sh**__**o ga nai – there's nothing I can do / Can't be helped.**_

_**tatami – mat; traditional Japanese flooring**_

_**dojo – training hall**_

_**arigato – thank you**_

**2. Opening eyes**

Rays of sunshine peeked through the half-way closed window, illuminating a few strands of strawberry-blond hair. As the Sun ascended, more rays fell on the sleeping figure, eventually making it stir, as the rays reached the pale eyelids.

„Oww…" she exhaled, opening her eyes then closing them back instantly.

Matsumoto turned in her bed to escape the penetrating light, and opened her eyes once more. She looked around the room – her room – trying to recollect a memory. A memory of something she couldn't remember. A dream perhaps? She took a deep breath and tried to think.

_A shadow on the wall… _

_heat… _

_a tug on her hair… _

_a pale shoulder… _

_a silver strand… _

_panting…_

She gasped loudly at the last image and threw herself on her back, staring at the ceiling, as if the images creeping back to her mind were displayed there.

_She felt her belt being removed, while at the same time absent-mindedly tugged on his captain uniform, which was soon discarded with his help. She broke the kiss, partially because of their need for air, and partially because her mind screamed in protest._

„_Gin… I… we… can't…" she panted, but her sentence was broken off by a kiss so fierce she was taken aback by it, and soon moaned into it. She felt herself being pushed back to the tatami in the center of the room, and didn't resist. Her mind's protests were all muffled by the needs of her body… and her heart. Suddenly he broke the kiss and continued kissing her jaw line, her neck and the entire area of her chest not covered by her clothes. Each spot kissed by him seemed to catch on fire, while at the same time she felt the ticklish sensation made by his hair – so she smiled and moaned at the same time. She squeezed his shoulders encouraging him, and in response he nudged a leg between hers', spreading them apart. He then pressed his waist between her thighs, and she felt the result of their activity on him, pressed against her most sensitive parts. The realization made a new wave of heat wash towards her lower abdomen. His lips returned to hers, while one hand moved to remove her clothes, the slight movement and pressure of his hips remaining constant. She brought her hands up to remove his clothes, and they broke their kiss to make the process faster. _

„Oh god…." she whispered, eyes still wide in a shock, staring at the ceiling. The next image was so vivid she could almost feel it.

_His hands roamed on her naked form, paying special attention to her gorgeous breasts. She caressed his back, and scratched it whenever he'd hit an especially sensitive spot. He didn't go easy on her; his need was greater than that. But she wasn't the type anyway. His predatory lust seemed to raise the heat of her body even more. Her moans got louder as his touch and kisses trailed lower on her, and she screamed when she felt him taste her with a single, long lick. He grinned at her, and rose back to reposition his waist between her thighs, his tip slightly poking her entrance. She stared into his crimson orbs flaring with lust, hew own eyes filled with anticipation. No words were necessary, so he dove to capture her mouth, while entering her at the same time with a sharp thrust._

She closed her eyes, trying to block the images out. The plan failed though, as the lack of something to concentrate her vision on just made the images spin at faster speed and the sensation more vivid.

_His thrusts were gradually gaining speed and after a certain time she had to hold onto his shoulders, nails digging deep into his skin. Her moans and screams were completely out of her control, and she faintly registered his low moans muffled into her neck. As her voice was getting dangerously louder, he covered her mouth with his, melting into a passionate and wild kiss. That turned out to be the very last erotic drop they needed, sending them both over the edge, and her final scream echoed through the walls of the building._

Cheeks burning, breath ragged, Matsumoto sat up in her bed, trying to stop the truth from surfacing. After a few long seconds the realization hit her: she gave in. She gave in to that two-faced childhood friend of hers. Her anger was accelerating, but soon it was replaced by a feeling of defeat. She never thought _she_ would be the type to give in. Hell, she never thought of _anything_ like this before, anyway. Well, not in the near past…

Matsumoto sighed.

„_Still, you should've known better, Rangiku_" she thought to herself. „_No matter what happened before, it's not the same now. He's a captain, you're a vice-captain. He's 3rd squad, you're 10th. Different time, different life._"

She looked through the window, continuing her soothing reasoning within herself.

„_Sho ga nai…_" she said out loud with a sigh. Last night was already in the past, so now she had to concentrate on the future and how to handle the whole situation. „_Avoid and deny._" That seemed to be the most reasonable solution. „_Then forget._" At that thought she frowned. The heated feeling of his lips on hers was still too vivid.

A knock on her door brought her back to reality.

„Takezoe Kokichiro reporting to Vice-captain Matsumoto." came the voice from behind the door. „The training at the 4th _dojo_ is to start in 30 minutes. Your presence is expected by the Captain of the 10th division, Hitsugaya Toushiro-dono."

„Great, I'll be there. _Arigato._" she replied. A harsh doze of formality was just what she needed. She got up and opened all of the windows, allowing the cleansing light and air to rush through her home. A moment later she was already getting herself ready for her upcoming day.

_**- to be continued -**_

_**by: Whisper of the Snow**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Notes:**_

_**Chapter 3 :)**_

_**I still do not own any of the Bleach characters.**_

_**My lil' dictionary:**_

_**dojo – training hall**_

_**shoji – room dividers made of paper**_

_**Ohayo gozaimasu! – Good morning!**_

_**Gambatte, ne! – Good luck/ Do your best!**_

_**kido – demon art / magic**_

_**shunpo – flash steps**_

_**Gomen ne! – Sorry!**_

_**Seireitei – Court of Pure Souls**_

_**Zanpakuto – Shinigami (death god) sword**_

_**reiatsu – spirit force**_

**3. Avoid and deny**

Loud voices and occasional yells were heard from the _dojo_, as Rangiku walked closer to the building. Many of the _shoji_were open to let the fresh air circulate through the massive hall. From the voices and silhouettes visible through the openings, about twenty or thirty people must have gathered there, according to Rangiku's estimations. As she got closer to the hall, she recognized some faces from her own division – those who saw her bowed from afar, as soon as they saw her – and some members of 5th division. She couldn't see who was in the middle of the hall because of the people standing by the entrances, but judging from the yells and the clashing sound of wood against wood, she guessed someone was presenting an exercise, which then everyone would have to repeat later on.

She walked around the hall, heading for the front entrance, where the 'battle' was on. She entered the hall, slightly bowing to the bowing figures of her division. From there she already saw that one of the younger members of the 5th division was the one of the 'performing' people, obviously desperately trying to keep up with his opponent – a tall, blond man, with a lieutenant's armband on his left arm. She recognized him immediately, but still made a surprised expression; Kira Izuru was the vice-captain of the 3rd division, but – to her great relief - she didn't see any other members of the 3rd division in the crowd. She made her way around the edge of the circle made by the observing young people, and headed to the spot where her captain was standing, with his back against the wall, turquoise eyes carefully observing the sparring couple. Matsumoto saw him say something to the girl standing next to him, in whom she recognized the vice-captain of the 5th division, Hinamori Momo. Hinamori noticed Matsumoto approaching, and her smile widened as she waved at Rangiku.

„_Ohayo gozaimasu_, Matsumoto-san!" said Hinamori cheerfully.

„_Ohayo gozaimasu_" replied Matsumoto bowing, addressing both Hinamori and Hitsugaya. „My, some people can sure be lively so early in the morning." she said with a smile, looking at Kira.

„Everyone except _you_ can do that, Matsumoto" said Hitsugaya.

„But what's Kira-kun doing here? I thought this training was for 5th and 10th squad members only." said Matsumoto, ignoring her captain's remark completely.

„Some of the members of the 3rd squad asked permission to train with us – and _you_ were there yesterday, when we discussed that with them." said Hitsugaya with a slight annoyance in his voice, still looking at the sparring couple.

„Oh right…" said Matsumoto, with a great deal of surprise in her voice. It did seem to ring some bells, and she quickly glanced around the crowd, uneasiness creeping into her heart.

-

„Ok then!" said Kira aloud, lowering his wooden 'sword' „now try to repeat some of the basic moves you just saw, in pairs! _Gambatte, ne_!"

The crowd stirred at his words and applauded, delighted by the performance they just saw. It wasn't an everyday thing to learn from a vice-captain, after all. Everybody began to search for a pair, and soon the hall was filled with chattering and yelling voices, combined with the sharp thuds of the wooden sticks.

Kira made his way through the crowd to the spot where Hitsugaya and the two vice-captains were standing.

„Ohayo, Matsumoto-san!" he said cheerfully and bowed, still panting a little.

„Ohayo, Kira-kun! Great performance there!" said Rangiku, bowing slightly.

„Iie iie, just the usual basics." he said, blushing slightly „Oi, Hinamori, feel like playing a little?"

„Playing?? Brace yourself, partner!" said Hinamori laughing, and grabbed a wooden sword.

„Please excuse us, Hitsugaya taicho, Matsumoto-san!" said Kira, and made a move to leave, but stopped, remembering something. „Oh right, please excuse my captain's absence, he said he'd be here, but when I went to his chamber he sent me away to go ahead, saying he needed more sleep. But he'll be here soon for sure!" he added with a cheerful expression, as if the mere thought of his captain missing an appointment seemed to be ridiculous.

„Sleep, huh?" said Hitsugaya, watching Kira rush away towards Hinamori, who found an empty spot in the middle of the _dojo_. „I don't think Ichimaru has ever…"

„OH MY are those two doing everything wrong!!" yelled Matsumoto suddenly, pointing at a sparring couple in the other end of the _dojo_. „Shouldn't we go correct them?"

Hitsugaya looked at her with an expression as if Matsumoto's hair just turned black.

„Oh, I apologize, didn't mean to scare you…" she said, blushing deeply. „I just…"

„That's ok, you stay and help these guys in the front, I'll go correct those rookies in the back." said Hitsugaya, walking away.

Matsumoto sighed. „_Pull yourself together, Rangiku! There's no way they know._" She looked around the crowd and saw a short young girl, struggling with an opponent who was almost twice as big as her. Her moves were terribly clumsy, so Matsumoto decided to help out.

„Hey! You two! Come here!" she yelled, and the two obliged immediately, bowing deeply after they ran to her. „What squad are you guys in?"

„Fifth, m'am!" said the boy, still bowing.

„Hm, well, your vice-captain seems to be kinda busy at the moment…" said Rangiku, looking towards Hinamori, who was just about to break Kira's arm, if he hadn't blocked it. It seemed as if Hinamori couldn't resist using _kido_, after all – Kira's right sleeve was charred in many places – nevertheless, they were both laughing like little kids.

„Erm, so I guess you won't mind me helping you instead then?" asked Rangiku.

„Not at all m'am!!" the two said at the same time, bowing even deeper.

Matsumoto discarded her pink scarf and _Haineko_ on the floor and picked up a wooden sword.

„So… What you have here can be easily a real-life situation. The difference in size and strength between our enemy and ourselves is something we must learn to turn to our own advantage." Rangiku began, talking mostly to the girl, who seemed to be terribly confused and scared, but held a strong grip on her emotions.

Rangiku decided to demonstrate some moves in pair with the boy, slowly at first, explaining every move, then gradually accelerating her speed, and finally got so caught up in her own desire to fight that she smashed the wooden stick out of the boy's hands, who nearly screamed in surprise and instantly dropped to his knees, forehead and palms pressed against the floor. The anger and frustration fueling her muscles were washed away by the loud thud of the wooden sword, which hit the floor somewhere near the opposite wall of the _dojo_, nearly flying out through the open _shoji_.

„Oh my dear god, I'm so sorry!! Are you ok?!" she said to the boy, kneeling beside him.

„Yes, of course, m'am…" he answered, but his voice was shaky and he didn't dare to look up.

„_Gomen ne…_" said Rangiku, getting up. Some of the people around were still looking at them, but most pairs continued with their exercise. Rangiku walked towards the unlucky sword to pick it up, eyes fixed at her toes, trying to hide her red cheeks with her waterfall-like hair. Luckily no one stopped her on her way, and soon she bowed down to pick up the piece of wood. But as she grabbed the hilt, she couldn't lift it; it was as if it got glued to the floor. She tried once more – and heard a familiar chuckle from above her. Her heart made a backflip in her chest, and as if in slow-motion, she followed the line of the wooden sword and saw a foot on its other end. Her eyes continued their path, to the bottom of the _shinigami_ outfit, then the line of the captain's uniform, paused slightly on the S-shaped hilt of the katana, the arms crossed above the Zanpakuto, the chest, shoulders, neck… and finally the ever-grinning face expression.

„Oha'yo!" said Ichimaru cheerfully, still stepping on the wooden sword. Matsumoto managed to get her thoughts together and let go of the sword. „_No one knows._" She took two steps back and bowed politely.

„Ohayo gozaimasu, Ichimaru taicho!" she said, voice firm and calm. _Deny and avoid._

Ichimaru's possible answers were all broken off by Kira rushing towards him and dropping on one knee, with his fellow 3rd squad members lined up behind him.

„Ohayo gozaimasu, Taicho!" they said loudly.

Matsumoto took advantage of the crowd's attention on Ichimaru and quickly made her way back to her captain, who was explaining something to two 10th squad members, using Hinamori as his partner.

„Nee, Taicho, I think I've done enough damage for the day. Please allow me to return to my office and punish myself with some paperwork or something." she said looking at Hitsugaya, but her nerves were all concentrated towards the feared _reiatsu_ behind her.

„Well…" Hitsugaya began, looking at her suspiciously, „there sure is a lot of paperwork left over. But… you have _never_ offered to do that on your own." he added, raising a white eyebrow.

„Well, as you can see this just isn't working for me right now. Perhaps that will. I'm deeply sorry." she said, bowing low.

„Fine, go." he said after a long pause, and as Matsumoto turned to leave, he shot a suspicious look at Ichimaru, who was looking in their direction, his grin fading.

-

Without looking back, Matsumoto walked out of the _dojo_, but when she was about 20 meters away, someone called her name. Matsumoto turned around and saw Hinamori running towards her, with_ Haineko_ in her hand. Matsumoto blushed instantly, realizing her clumsiness and mentally slapped herself for letting herself get so distracted.

„You left this in the _dojo_, Matsumoto-san!" said Hinamori approaching, still panting from her sprint. „Shirou-… err, Hitsugaya taicho asked me to bring it after you."

„I believe those weren't the only words he said…" Matsumoto said with a pained look on her face. „_Gomen ne_, for making you come running after me…" she added, bowing.

„It's ok, really! It was getting too hot in the _dojo_ anyway" said Hinamori smiling.

„Err…" began Matsumoto, remembering something „…was there perhaps a pink scarf lying on the floor, next to my _Zanpakuto_?"

Hinamori thought for a second, and then said: „I don't remember seeing it… but it wasn't me who found your _Zanpakuto_ either, so maybe Hitsugaya taicho saw it… But then again, I think he would've given it to me to bring it along with _Haineko_ so… But I'm sure it's still there somewhere; let's go back and search for it!"

„Oh no no no, that's not necessary, really!" said Rangiku, forcing a smile, „it's not a big deal, I'm sure I'll get it back eventually. Thank you once more, Hinamori!" and with that they parted.

It was a lie, naturally; that pink scarf wasn't only valuable in terms of money – it was also one of Rangiku's favorite accessories, and truth be told, she deeply regretted loosing it. But she couldn't bring herself to go back_there_. Matsumoto was no fool; she knew she couldn't completely cut Ichimaru out of her life, but wanted to prolong this unpleasant game of hide-and-seek for as long as she could.

Her footsteps slowed down a little as she reached a small garden, filled with blooming sakura trees. She loved this about the _Seireitei_; nature was deeply rooted into this town, in forms of these little secluded gardens. She walked off the laid-down pathway and entered the tiny pink forest. She looked at the trees, touched the pink flowers and inhaled the intoxicating scent of the flowers, when…

„What the…" she said out loud, not believing her own eyes. Her pink scarf was hanging off a branch of one of the sakura trees at the edge of the garden, where the wall of the next building began. Mesmerized, she walked over to the tree and was about to grab her scarf, when she heard a voice right behind her back and felt a slight touch on her shoulder.

„Tag! You're it!" said Ichimaru smiling, poking her shoulder once more. Matsumoto turned around but said nothing, so he continued: „That ain't nice, making me use a bait jus' to catch you." His grin didn't faint in the slightest, even though she said nothing.

Matsumoto didn't know what to say; but inwardly she kept cursing the captains' ability to hide their _reiatsu_ completely and their habit to use _shunpo_ whenever they felt like it. She frowned a little, realizing the irony: it really was like a game of tag; but in which she was blindfolded and spun around way too many times.

Ichimaru's grin faded a little because of the continuing silence, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

„I was kinda hopin' to find you next to me in the morning, ya know…" he said in a more serious voice, taking a small step towards her. Rangiku absent-mindedly took a step backwards – and bumped into the cold wall of the building behind her. The game of tag officially ended here.

„Listen, about last night…" Matsumoto gathered all her strength together, which proved to be very difficult, since having him close to her again just made her brain race through the memories of last night. „… I don't think it was the right thing to do… and I think we should just go back to the way we were before…" she couldn't go on.

„Gimme one good reason why." he said, voice completely serious, but a small grin remained.

„Well, for one, we're worlds apart now, what happened in the past is already in the past, and…" she tried to sound as convincing as possible.

„Ok…" he said after a slight pause, taking one more step towards her. „Now give me one good reason that was NOT taken fro' a crappy love-story book you brought back from the Living World!"

Matsumoto wished she had Kurotsuchi taicho's ability to melt into the wall when Ichimaru took that final half of a step needed to close the distance between them. She felt herself pinned to the wall by the crimson gaze, and couldn't move a muscle when he slowly leaned down to capture her lips with his. Her mind went blank, and the hormones asleep since last night took over her. Their kiss was gentle at first, but soon more heat was added to it, and she felt Ichimaru's body press into hers completely, thus pressing her into the wall behind her. She suspected that there would be a nasty bruise on her back later on, but ignored the thought, since the feeling of his arms closing in around her was much more enticing. She circled her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer. She felt Ichimaru's _reiatsu_ pulse from time to time, as he struggled to keep it hidden. Heated tongue-battles were occasionally replaced by butterfly-like pecks, and it seemed they couldn't get enough of it.

A silent voice was echoing in the back of Rangiku's mind, and she ignored it, but after a while the tiny voice turned into a screaming one, reminding Rangiku of the nature of the whole situation – so she suddenly broke the kiss and tried to push Ichimaru away.

„Gin! No, we just can't be doing this!! We just can't! It's too late for _us_!!" she said in a firm voice.

Ichimaru looked at her with such an intense gaze that she shifted uncomfortably.

„You don't mean that, dear Rangiku. It's in your eyes." he said, still holding her in his tight embrace.

„You'll see. You'll…" he didn't get to finish his sentence as they were both struck by an extremely intense _reiatsu_.

„Taicho!" Matsumoto gasped. He was still behind the next building, and even if he came closer the sakura trees would probably keep them hidden – but not their _reiatsu_. Rangiku didn't bother hiding hers – she wasn't too good at it anyway – so she hoped Ichimaru would regain the control of his senses completely to remain unnoticed. But what if Hitsugaya's senses were sharper than hers, enough to…

Her thoughts were distracted when Ichimaru suddenly let go of her and turned around to grab her – until now completely neglected – scarf from the branch.

„HEY!!" Matsumoto tried to whisper, „what are you doing??! That's…"

„…a souvenir." he finished for her.

„What?! No! Give it…"

„_Next_ time. _Maybe_." he said with a wide grin.

„There'll be no…" she began but was silenced with a quick kiss, before he disappeared from her eyes. For a split second she saw his blurry silhouette on the roof of the next building, and then he was gone.

„MATSUMOTOOOO!!" Hitsugaya's yell worked better than a cold shower.

_**- to be continued –**_

_**By: Whisper of the Snow**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Notes:**_

_**Chapter 4:)**__** Warning !!! **__**RATED M**__** !!! for a reason!! LEMON!!!**_

_**Sorry guys for taking so long, real life got in the way of my creative process. :P Gomen ne! **_

_**Tiny dictionary:**_

_**baka – stupid, silly**_

_**itai – to hurt, painful (hope I got this one right )**_

_**I think the rest is known from the previous chapters, although I'd still like to point out that knowledge of Bleach characters and expressions is necessary to understand the story completely.**_

_**Anyway, enjoy:3**_

_**I still do not own any of the Bleach characters. **_

**4. Forget…?**

Four days had passed without any kind of '_next time_'. Disturbances of unknown origin in the Living World seemed to keep both Matsumoto and Ichimaru busy during their days and sometimes nights. All squads were on alert, since most of the teams sent to take care of things suffered great injuries, and brought back almost no useful information at all.

Matsumoto's mind was preoccupied by these events, and yet no day passed without her thoughts floating back to the scene at the sakura garden. The squad meetings - which were held more often than any time before – did little to help her effort to forget. Ichimaru didn't make any open moves, but she'd often catch him looking at her, and when the meeting was done he'd always search for a reason to talk to her – and given his sly personality, he'd always find one.

"_Baka… If I only knew what your true goal is…" _thought Matsumoto with frustration, "_but I know you too well to know that you won't tell me."_

She had just walked out of her office, heading for the main building of the 2nd division – the occasional meeting was to be held there, since Soi Fong had some new information she wanted to share. Matsumoto's hands were so full of documents and reports that she could barely see where she was going, but since she was already late, she had no choice but to trust her reflexes. Matsumoto knew the way around the _Seireitei_ perfectly, but still had to watch out for obstacles, such as rocks on the ground or the other _shinigami_ walking around.

"_Uhh, taicho will kill me…" _she thought desperately.

She peeked from behind her pile, trying to figure out a solution. _Shunpo_ was out of question because of the papers, but suddenly she remembered a shortcut and decided to go for it. She took about two turns – and suddenly bumped into someone; the collision sending her falling backwards and dropping all her documents, which were now lying all over the narrow pathway.

"_Itaaaaiii!_" she yelled, touching her abused area – her bottom – which was first to come in contact with the ground. The pain and frustration suppressed the surprise she felt when she saw who it was. "Do you _absolutely_ _have to_ use _shunpo_ all the time, eh?"

"_Gomen ne_!" said Ichimaru laughing. "Didn't see ya there."

"Well, that better be true" she said, frustrated, "because if you had done it on purpose I'd just kill you right here."

"Hey, I said I was sorry, ain't I?" he said, now laughing at her frustration, which he found to be very amusing. "Here, lemme help ya." He reached out and grabbed her upper arm to help her up.

"No I don't need… let go!!" she yelled and tried to pull her arm back, thus making him bow even lower.

"Oh c'mon, don't ya be so stubborn, no one's here!" he said with a smirk, still not letting go.

"I'm not being…" she pulled her hand back once more, but overdid it, since she made Ichimaru loose his balance and tumble forward – right on top of her. She yelled in pain; her physique wasn't a fragile one, but the difference in their weights was considerably big.

"Oops…" said Ichimaru, pushing himself up on his elbows, trying to suppress a grin.

"BAKA!!" yelled Matsumoto, "that really hurt!!"

Ichimaru didn't reply; he looked away from her and was now staring somewhere in the distance, half of his body still covering hers. Matsumoto thought that he may not have heard her, but quickly concluded that was impossible – her yell was probably heard a few streets away, too. What was he looking at then? She tried to twist her head in the direction his gaze was pointed, but didn't see anything unusual there. So she looked at him again, and noticed the small curve in the corner of his lips, obviously trying to hide a smile.

"What??" she asked with obvious frustration in her voice.

"Waitin' fo' an apology." he stated, still not looking at her.

"He? You're the one who fell on _me_!" she said.

"_Becoz_ you pulled me." he said plainly. "Or was that no coincidence?" he added, now looking into her eyes, not trying to hide his grin any more.

"Dream on." she said and tried to push him away with all her force.

"Oh my," he began, faking a worried voice "you are mean! Have I fallen into yo' trap? Matsumoto-san should not be playin' aroun' with people's emotions like that!" he added laughing.

"You're an idiot." she said in a firm voice, but her lips curved into a smile.

She pushed harder on his chest, but he wouldn't move, so she let out a frustrated groan and gave up her struggling attempts. He shifted his position a little, so that his face was above hers, and looked at her, smiling. He brought a hand up and cupped her cheek, making her breath hitch and heartbeat speed up. Then he leaned closer to her, so that their noses were almost touching, and she began to lose her sense of the surroundings, and…

"Hey, we're gonna be late!" he stated cheerfully, and moved away to stand up.

"…what?" she asked in a breathless voice.

"Meeting, remember?" Ichimaru stated, and laughed seeing her confused expression.

"Oh right.." she suddenly managed to process the information – both what he said and what just happened. She was mentally slapping herself for her brain's slowness and her heart's betrayal. "We should hurry!" she added, and made a move to leave.

"Yo Rangiku, what 'bout them papers?" he asked, pointing at the ground. He was clearly enjoying her clumsiness. "Here, I'll help ya." he added, bowing down to pick the papers up.

"Oh it's ok, you just go ahead, I'll.." she began, but he simply ignored her and kept on collecting the documents into a neat pile. She knelt down and joined him, and they were ready to go in less than a minute.

"Oooh, we're never gonna make it on time!" exclaimed Matsumoto.

He just grinned at her in response, and disappeared from her eyes, just to reappear on a rooftop, with half of the pile in his hands. "_Shunpo, huh?_" she thought. Well, she really had no choice, so she followed him, appearing next to him on the roof. She was afraid of losing the papers from her pile, but since half of it was gone, she could move around easier.

"Let's have a lil' game, shall we? Whoeva gets there first…" Ichimaru began, and reappeared on the next rooftop "…can make a wish."

"Ok…" she said, appearing next to him again "…I wish that you finally shut up!" she said with a smirk.

"That's a strange wish…" he said laughing, and appearing on the next roof again. "If I'll get there first…" he began, but waited for her to catch up. As she did, he lowered his voice a little and continued "…I wish that you spend another night with me." he said with a smirk and disappeared again, until the next rooftop. Her stomach flipped once, but she pretended not to notice it and followed him.

"That truly _is_ just a wish" she said with an evil smile.

"Afraid to loose, are we?" he said, grinning back at her.

And so the game began – and ended in less than a minute. Ichimaru was first to appear by the side of the Second Division building, followed by a panting Matsumoto a few seconds later. Ichimaru took it slow at the beginning – just to tease her – but in the last few hundred meters left Matsumoto far behind. Losing was out of question for him – the prize he himself had created was just too tempting.

After a few scolding whispers, Matsumoto grabbed the pile from Ichimaru's hands and merged it with the one in her own hands, and they headed to the main entrance of the building. Matsumoto tried to open the door of the hall where the meeting was held, trying not to make any noise and secretly hoping they could sneak in without anyone noticing them. Her attempt failed though, as she didn't even manage to open the door in the first place; she had never hated a pile of paper so much ever in her life.

"Allow me" said Ichimaru grinning, and practically pushed Matsumoto out of the way.

He opened the door without any delicacy, causing most of the captains and vice-captains to turn their heads towards them. Matsumoto blushed and bowed, and quickly made her way towards the back of the hall. Soi Fong paused in her speech for a second, but soon continued it, thus regaining the crowd's attention. Matsumoto quickly glanced around the crowd, searching for Hitsugaya, hoping there would be an extra seat next to him. She soon spotted him in the first row, but also Captain Unohana on his one, Captain Ukitake on his other side. She made her way to the very back, and sat down behind the 4th division vice-captain, Kotetsu Isane, who gave her a small bow and smiled at her, so she did the same. As she turned to sit down, she suddenly realized that Ichimaru was sitting next to her.

"What are you doing??" she whispered, "Go to the front where all the other captains are!!"

"If I go there I gotta be listenin' an' all" he whispered back, "and that'd be a pain."

"But you're a captain, that's your…" she began, but was cut off by him.

"So 'round what time are ya comin' over?" he whispered into her ear. It took a few seconds for her to process the question.

"What? Oh come on, it was a stupid game, and I never said I'd agree in the first place." she said, trying to whisper even more, so she had to lean so close to him that she could hear his calm breathing. His grin never faded, and he turned to answer.

"If _you_ wouldda won, you'd have made me shut up, wouldn't ya?"

"Of course not, it'd never…" but instead of finishing she gave out a loud squeak as she felt him put his hand on her butt, giving it a quick squeeze. Some of the people around them turned around and she blushed deeply. As they didn't see anything suspicious, they turned back and Rangiku felt like she'd melt from embarrassment.

Oh she'd scream his head off when the meeting was over, that was certain.

For a few minutes they were sitting next to each other without saying anything, exchanging a few looks – hers of frustration, his of amusement. Matsumoto's thoughts were racing around in her head, but they were brought back by the voice of the 1st division captain, Yamamoto Genryuusai.

"So the three captains chosen for this mission are as follows." he began. "Captain of the 2nd division, Soi Fong, captain of the 6th division, Kuchiki Byakuya, and captain of the 3rd division, Ichimaru Gin. Is this acceptable for everyone, or do you have any requests?"

"No sir!" said Soi Fong, who was standing next to him all the time.

"No." stated Byakuya simply, getting up from his place.

"Nope!" said Ichimaru, and got up to join the others in the front.

Matsumoto looked at him, mouth opening for a question, but he left without looking at her.

"What is this all about?" she asked from Isane.

"They're sending down three captains to the Living World to investigate matters." whispered Isane.

"Captains?? Has the situation gotten so serious?" Matsumoto exclaimed.

"Yes, it's pretty bad, according to Captain Soi Fong's reports." Isane said with a worried look on her face.

Matsumoto blushed a little; she could've known that if she were listening.

The meeting was soon over, and everyone stood up. Some of the captains joined the four in the front, listening to their discussion about the upcoming mission, while most vice-captains headed out or to their captains; just as Matsumoto did. While talking to Hitsugaya she looked at Ichimaru a few quick times; he was listening to the others, occasionally adding some comments. He seemed to be completely relaxed, but Matsumoto felt very tense. The mission was a dangerous one and even some of the vice-captains sent to deal with the strange events suffered horrible injuries.

----------

The whole afternoon was spent on preparations and discussions, but when the evening came, the pace of events seemed to slow down. Some of the vice-captains, including Hinamori, Isane and Kira gathered at the office of the 10th division to relax a little; an event which included Matsumoto's favorite accessory: _sake_. After a few rounds the conversation turned from the troubling events to more cheerful topics, and soon they were all laughing and chatting in a relaxed manner. Hitsugaya came in a few times to get something from the office, expressing his disapproval of "the inappropriate use of _his_ office", but seeing that his point didn't go through the clouded minds, he gave up and left.

Soon the conversation turned back to the upcoming mission, but in a very different way from before. Matsumoto and Kira were arguing whether it was a good idea to send Ichimaru to the mission; Kira was practically glorifying his captain and saying he was the right man for the mission, while Matsumoto was trying to prove the opposite.

Isane and Hinamori were exchanging different bits of information about the Living World, but soon Isane had to help another vice-captain, who was so drunk he could barely see, although her own healing abilities were dulled by the strong alcohol.

---

Around midnight it was decided that everyone should make their way home, and Matsumoto stayed behind to clean up a little – well, just as much as it was _really_ necessary. She gathered the small cups lying around the floor, tripping over an empty bottle on her way; her movements were still influenced by the _sake_, but at least her foggy mind was clearing. She went over to the window to open it, when she heard the door slide open.

"Whoa, I thought they weren't ever gonna leave" said Ichimaru, closing the door behind him.

Matsumoto focused her blurry vision on him and gave out a small sigh. Remembering what she was about to do, she turned back to the window and opened it a little, inhaling the fresh air. She heard Ichimaru walk over to her, could _feel_ his closeness, but didn't dare to turn around.

"Well, I kinda figured you wouldn't be comin', so I…" he started, but was suddenly taken aback as she turned around and hugged him clumsily and tightly at the same time.

"Don't die, 'kay?" she mumbled into his chest, squeezing him even stronger.

For a short moment his grin faded and eyes shot open in surprise, but soon a sly smirk reappeared and he managed to free one hand and hug her back.

"Drunk, are we?" he asked. She shook her head into his chest, still not letting go, making him laugh a little.

"Hey, look at me." he requested, and brought his free hand to her face, gently lifting it up.

Icy-blue and deep-crimson met, slowly sinking into each other, but soon the contact was broken as their lips met, joining in a tight lock. Matsumoto could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, while at the same time she could feel Ichimaru's heartbeat through their bodies pressed together. A light breeze blew through the open window behind her, gently blowing her golden strands into her face, touching his cheek, too. He brought his hand up to brush it back, without breaking the kiss, but deepening it even more. The breeze seemed to clear her head, and the feeling of tipsiness was replaced by the feeling of lust. Ichimaru must have felt the same, as he crushed their bodies together even stronger, while making a slight step forward, thus making her lean against the wall next to the open window.

If someone looked up from the street, they would probably see them, but neither of the two seemed to care about that. Even the protesting – and sober – voice in Matsumoto's head was silenced completely by the mere beat of her heart. _No regrets…_

Ichimaru suddenly broke the kiss, leaving them both panting loudly against each other. Taking only a slight pause, he then attacked her neck with his mouth, while at the same time untangling his arms from behind her back, left hand resting on her hip, while the right one on her breast, caressing it. Rangiku was surprised by the multiple assaults on her senses, so she threw her head back against the wall, gasping loudly, and at the same time allowing him more access to her neck. She was delighted by the exchange between gentle and fierce kisses and nibbles on her skin – somewhere deep inside guessing those actions would leave betraying love-bites on her skin tomorrow, but she couldn't care about it. She smiled with her eyes closed, thinking it was as if he were marking her… As if _she_ were _his_.

She gasped loudly both at the thought and at the fact that he had both of his hand caressing her breasts now, while his lips attacked the other side of her neck. She brought her hands up and caressed his shoulders, neck, digging into his silver hair, pulling on it slightly, and unconsciously pushed her hips against his, earning a low groan from him. Eyes still closed, she smirked at the ceiling and pushed her hips forward again. Suddenly the wet kisses on her neck stopped, as he threw his head back and pressed his hips against her.

"Yo Rangiku, you got any idea whatcha doin' to me?" he said smirking, looking at her with a lust-filled gaze. He put both of his hands on her hips and forcefully pressed his hips against hers.

"I do have _some_ idea…" she said, with an evil grin forming on her lips, as she brought her hand up to his chest, slowly making its way down, caressing his body on its way, and finally to grasp his forming erection through his clothes, making him shut his eyes with a gasp and unconsciously rub himself against her. He put one palm on the wall behind her next to her head to keep his balance, and a moment later reclaimed her lips with his, trapping her hand between their bodies. His free hand roamed her side, traveling higher until her breasts, suddenly sliding it under the edge of her cleavage, continuing his explorations on her bare skin, making her moan into the kiss.

His touch, his scent, his taste were making her world spin, and she barely registered as he brought his hand down from next to her head, caressing her side and then her buttock, sliding his hand lower. He suddenly lifted her leg, and she automatically circled it around his waist, crushing their hips together even more. To keep her balance she brought her hands to his shoulders, and he circled his arms around her waist, now grinding his hips rhythmically against her most sensitive parts. She felt him get even more aroused and heat gathered in her lower belly, making her head spin even more. She tugged on his clothes, and she felt him do the same – the unwanted presence of their clothes annoying them both. Matsumoto's clothes turned out to be much easier to remove than Ichimaru's – that, and the fact that he practically ripped her shirt open, revealing her gorgeous breasts to his view and touch.

"Wait… Gin… not… here…" she gasped, as she felt him trail wet kisses down her naked chest.

He gave her a quick kiss on her lips and looked into her eyes, pressing his forehead against hers, panting heavily.

"Where… then?" he asked; thinking has obviously become difficult for him, too.

Unable to form words, Matsumoto pointed at the door across the room, leading to her office. He smirked at her, and suddenly reached behind her back and under her knees, lifting her up in a tight embrace. He carried her across the room and she nuzzled her face into his chest, relishing in his familiar scent. She helped him slide the door open, and he put her down as they entered, waiting for her further instructions. She grabbed his hand a led him to a sofa by the opposite wall and stopped in front of it. She felt Ichimaru circle his arms around her from behind, placing impatient kisses on her neck, hands slowly making their way up to her still exposed breasts. She spun around and kissed him passionately, her hands tugging at his uniform, which was soon removed with his help. When he was standing completely naked in front her, she reclaimed his lips and put her hands on his erect member, forcing the air out of his lungs with a low moan. He threw his head back, thus breaking the kiss and enjoyed the blissful friction. His hands were all over her body, touching, exploring, making her moan. She removed her hand and circled her arms around his neck, pressing their bodies into each other. When the friction got too much to handle, Ichimaru sat down on the sofa, Matsumoto following him and climbing onto his lap. He grabbed the base of his erection and guided it to her entrance. Without hesitation, she sank onto him, engulfing him in blissful heat and perfect pressure. They both moaned at the first thrust, and Matsumoto had to hold on to his shoulders, afraid she may pass out from the intensity of the feeling. Soon she started to move against him, increasing the pace just by little bit with each thrust. Ichimaru was completely mesmerized both by the feeling and by the view in front of him. Her pale skin, her beautiful curves, her gorgeous breast bouncing with each thrust could've been enough to make him come right there and then.

Sensing that the feeling was overwhelming him, he grasped her hips, and made her stop, just to guide her down to lay on the sofa, climbing on top of her. He put one hand by her side to hold himself up, while his other hand massaged her breast and trailed lower, not stopping until the wetness between her legs. He touched her and massaged her in a way she thought she would pass out, so she moaned and panted loudly, not able to control her movements and voice any longer. Ichimaru was looking at her with a smirk, enjoying every sound she made. Soon he realized he was desperate for more contact, so he lowered himself on top of her, guiding his now painfully hard member to her entrance, moaning along a sharp thrust. The heat seemed to increase rapidly in the room with each thrust, and as he brought his pace up, Matsumoto couldn't hold back her moans turning into screams any longer. He guided her legs to circle around his waist, thrusting faster and deeper. She pulled him down for a heated kiss and soon his thrust got completely out of his control, hitting her somewhere amazingly deep inside, and making the blood in her body rush towards one spot, where they were currently joined together. She broke the kiss, feeling her body tense and then finally release, her scream filling his ears, nails scratching deep into his back, and soon he couldn't take it either, and came along with her with a low groan.

He collapsed on top of her, but she didn't mind. She brought her hands up and hugged him, and soon felt his arms sneak under her back, hugging her limp body. She felt his heartbeat gradually slow down, and felt his own heart return to its normal pace. Matsumoto kept her eyes closed, not wanting the moment to end…

_Can't forget…_

_Won't forget._

_--_

_**By: Whisper of the Snow**_

_**More notes:**_

_**PHEW!! That was a long one! Hope you guys liked it:)**_

_**I don't know if I should continue though; don't want to 'overdo' it and ruin it or something… **_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:**

**Chapter 5:)**

**First of all, I'd like to say that I'm very sorry for taking so long guys! Thank you so much for your patience, I hope I won't disappoint you after such a long time. **

**So enjoy reading it, and please review, if you have some time. **

**No dictionary in this one, since I believe I haven't used any new unknown expressions. A wider knowledge of Bleach characters may be necessary though!**

**I still do not own any of the Bleach characters.**

**5.****Change in the wind**

Matsumoto lazily reached over to pick up her discarded clothes, while at the same time watching Ichimaru from the corner of her eye, who has almost finished dressing up. She felt comfortable, and that thought made her happy. There was no weirdness in the whole situation, even after their love-making, in the deep silence of the night.

A few moments later however, when she was already dressed up as well, she thought that she may have thought too soon. Ichimaru kept silent while gathering his things from around the room, occasionally putting back something that was misplaced either by the two of them, or the drunk vice-captains from before. Matsumoto felt the urge to break the silence, but was too stubborn to do so. The uncomfortable feeling was accelerating, and soon Matsumoto's heart was beating faster in her chest, fueled by her suppressed feeling of frustration.

„Well, this's been fun" stated Ichimaru after a while, grinning widely. „Guess I betta go now." and with that he headed to the door.

„That's… it?" said Rangiku slowly, wide blue eyes fixed at his fox-like expression.

„Well, yea." he shot back simply, his grin not fading in the slightest. „What did ya expect?" he asked, as if he found her question itself ridiculous.

Seeing the multiple feelings race through her eyes, he concluded that he is probably expected to say something more. Luckily, he was prepared for the upcoming scene, so he continued. „Ya said there could never be anything between us, so I guess I better go, before ya get mad at me again or sumthin…"

Matsumoto could not believe her ears. She was already dressed up, but she had never felt so exposed and naked in her entire life. It wasn't like she knew what she expected from him, but it was certainly not this._This was all so wrong…_

"GET OUT!!!!" she shouted at him, and watched him slowly make his way out of the room.

He paused for a second at the door looking back at her furious expression. His trademark grin faded away, and it seemed as if he wanted to say something, but changed his mind quickly and simply smiled at her. A second later he was gone.

The remaining traces of the nice feeling tingling through her body were quickly replaced by the bitterness of the recent events. She sat down on the couch, eyes still fixed at the spot by the door where Ichimaru was standing moments earlier. As she tore her gaze away, her eyes landed on a pillow next to her, and she felt an urge to punch it. Once, twice, three times… soon she was hitting it so hard that the pillow ripped in numerous places and the stuffing began to come out. As she calmed down, she noticed her tears flowing down her cheeks, so she covered her face with her palms. Elbows rested on her knees, she remained still and cried silently.

---------------------------------------------------------

"MATSUMOTOOO!!!"

Rangiku stirred from her dreamless sleep and slowly opened her eyes. She was already used to her captain's yells, but her heartbeat sped up nevertheless. She had obviously fallen asleep on the couch, and her eyes stung from the tears cried some hours earlier.

"What the hell happened here??!" yelled Hitsugaya at her, looking around the messy room. "If you _must_get drunk in the office, the least you could do is clean up after yourselves!!"

Rangiku sat up and looked around, as if not registering where she was. She tore her thoughts away from the silver-haired Third Division captain and forced herself to concentrate on her duties. When she realized the trouble she was in, Matsumoto stood up and bowed low.

"My deepest apologies, Taicho! I deeply regret what I have done and will take any punishment you see fit" she said, not entirely sure if she was truly thinking about the messy room…

"Whatever, just clean up already." Hitsugaya said walking toward to his room, which suffered even more damage than Matsumoto's.

"Yes sir!" Matsumoto replied. She followed her captain and started cleaning up silently. Hitsugaya sat down to his desk, and after running through the few sheets on his table, looked at Matsumoto, who was cleaning up without saying a word – an unusual thing for Matsumoto. But what disturbed him even more was the stone-plain expression of her face. He had seen many of his vice-captain's hang-overs, but this one seemed different.

"Matsumoto…" he called, "what is it?"

"What do you mean, Taicho?" asked Matsumoto, not stopping the cleaning process.

"What happened last night?" asked Hitsugaya in a firm voice.

"Well, you know…" Matsumoto began, for the first time kind of hating her captain's unique ability to see through people's souls. "Some of the vice-captains gathered here and we had a few drinks, had a good time, and well… we may have had a bit too much to drink you know… so…" she stopped and forced a smile while looking at her captain.

"Is that it?" he asked after a long pause, raising a single brow at her.

"Of course, and as I said I'm very sorry for not handling the situation properly" she said and bowed slightly, dropping one small cup from the many she was holding.

As she bent down to pick it up, she could feel Hitsugaya's turquoise eyes fixed on her, exploring her, so she decided not to look at him, but continue cleaning. A few minutes passed without them saying anything, when Hitsugaya broke the silence.

"This… was left in front of the office door." he said.

"What, Taic…" she looked up and couldn't finish; Hitsugaya was holding her neatly-folded pink scarf in his hand.

Hitsugaya waited a little, expecting her to react, but her face went blank.

"Do you know how this got in front of the office?" he asked.

"Me?" Matsumoto reacted after a few seconds. "No, I don't. I've lost it a few weeks ago, so…"

"Well, you must be glad it's back then." Hitsugaya said, not once stopping examining her face.

"Oh, yes, I am." Matsumoto said, forcing a smile and taking her scarf. As she put it around her neck, a familiar scent hit her senses, but she ignored it.

"Matsumoto." said Hitsugaya, regaining her attention. "Go to your room and sleep. I'll get a servant to finish this for you."

"Oh no Taicho, that really isn't nec…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Go. It's an order."

"Alright." she said after a while. "Will you at least let me find a servant and ask them to do it? It's the least I can do."

"Ok." he said, and she left after bowing low once more.

--------------------------------------------------------

After making sure the servants went to do what she asked of them, Matsumoto headed to her quarters. She longed for a bath… and a device to turn back time. But instead she had to settle for a bath and a long sleep.

It was for the best to try and ignore the whole incident. She never expected anything from Ichimaru anyway. She never even wanted anything _to start_ in the first place. It was useless to dwell over something that had no future. Besides, she simply _had to _be on good terms with Ichimaru. Tension between a captain and a vice-captain could lead to serious problems. Especially for the vice-captain…

Such thoughts were going through Matsumoto's mind, shortly before she fell asleep that morning.

------------------------

Matsumoto woke up later that afternoon. Any symptoms of hang-over were gone, but the clouds wouldn't go away from her thoughts, so she decided to do the best thing against that: go down to the _dojo_. With a little bit of luck, she would find someone there to train with. She hated to train alone; besides, it was much more fun to actually fight someone than to beat up a wooden dummy. But most importantly, she longed for company, to distract her thoughts, and go back to the cheerful Matsumoto Rangiku that she really was.

Soon she was on her way to the _dojo_, running rather than walking, simply because it felt nice. As she passed different people on her way, she could hear most of them talking about the mission going on in the Living World. It seemed that the lack of information about the progress of the three captains and their teams added to their imagination, so they were eagerly guessing what was going on. As Matsumoto slowed her pace, she overheard two young _shinigami _talking about the mission.

"…it must be so exciting down there!" exclaimed the first one.

"Yea, well, if you don't get killed, that is!" added the second, frowning a little.

"You probably would, wouldn't you?" shot the first one back, laughing loudly. "But those captains surely know their thing. Especially Kuchiki Taicho! He's so great! I've heard his _Zanpakuto_ is amazing, too! If someone, he wouldn't get killed down there." he added, nodding energetically.

"Yes, I've heard so too." agreed the second one. "Soi Fong Taicho is really good too. I'm not sure why they've sent Ichimaru Taicho though… I just dunno about that guy, creeps me out… I've even heard that his _Zanpakuto_…"

"HEY!!" Matsumoto's yell interrupted the second shinigami. "Sure you want to finish that?!"

"Ma--tsumo--to Fuuuku-tai-choo!" the two men stuttered. In their petrified states they even forgot to bow, or move at all.

"Talking so irresponsibly about matters you know NOTHING about is deeply disrespectful, EVEN if you think that no-one's listening!! What division are you two bastards in?" Matsumoto's voice was firm, even though she was burning with anger inside.

"7th… M'am…" said the two in a barely audible voice.

"Good, I'll make sure Komamura Taicho hears about this!" Matsumoto said and turned around, leaving the two shaking forms behind.

Naturally, she had no intention to talk to Komamura Taicho about this, but hell, all that yelling sure made her feel better.

By the time she got to the _dojo_, she was smiling widely as she entered the hall. In the other end of the hall she saw a small group of people training without swords, so she decided to take a closer look. As she came closer, she recognized some members of the 9th division. Not that she was in an any closer relationship with the 9th division members than with any other divisions' members, but she was on really good terms with their vice-captain, Hisagi Shuuhei. As a matter of fact he was one of the few other vice-captains who were there last night at the 10th division office. The 4th division vice-captain had to help him out pretty soon though, since he didn't handle his drinking all too well. Matsumoto found it to be extremely amusing, since once drunk, Hisagi would loose his composed temper and would start hugging people (especially Matsumoto). Matsumoto giggled at the thought, and Hisagi must have recollected the same memory, as he blushed a little when he saw Matsumoto approaching.

"Hey there!" she greeted him, smiling.

"Err, good afternoon, Matsumoto Fukutaicho!" he said, trying to keep his voice firm. The rest of his crew greeted Matsumoto with a bow.

"So, how's your head?" asked Matsumoto, finding it impossible not to tease him in his embarrassment.

"It's fine, thank you" he answered, coughing a little. "Are you doing well?"

"Yes, pretty good, thank you." she answered smiling, and decided to stop the teasing, since they were in front of his subordinates, after all. "So what are you all up to?"

"We're training some basic combat moves, and a little kido." Hisagi answered, obviously glad to be out of the corner. "Would you like to join us?" he added in a much more cheerful voice.

"Sure!" said Matsumoto, "you guys continue, and I'll just watch first."

Matsumoto moved away a little to give them more space, and began to do some warm-up exercises. Soon she joined them and did everything with great enthusiasm. She let Hisagi do all the talking, since it was his division after all, but didn't mind helping him out when he presented some move or trick. Even though most of the people were already tired when she got there, the appearance of another vice-captain added to their eagerness and stamina.

--

The rest of the afternoon flew by in a great mood, and by the time the first stars appeared on the sky, everyone was quite exhausted. Soon Hisagi ended the training and one by one everybody left.

Matsumoto headed outside too, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the magnificent star-covered sky. Everything was so silent and soothing, and Matsumoto felt the tranquility sneak into her soul. Not wanting to waste such a beautiful moment, she sat down on the wooden porch and leaned back against the cold wall of the _dojo_. She took a deep, slow breath and closed her eyes.

"Rangiku-san, are you alright??"

Matsumoto opened her eyes and met the concerned gaze of the 9th division vice-captain, who was kneeling next to her.

"Oh, sure, just wanted to enjoy the view for a short while." she answered with a smile. "What about you, Shuuhei?"

"The same." he answered with a smile. "Decided to take the long way back to the office, but when I saw you sitting here I decided to check if everything was OK."

"Aw, you're sweet." Matsumoto said and put her hand on Shuuhei's shoulder. "Well, if you were going to walk around and watch the stars anyway, you may just as well do that here with me. Unless you're in a hurry of course."

"Nah, Tousen Taicho said he could handle the reports from the ongoing mission by himself." Shuuhei said, sitting down next to Matsumoto with a satisfied sigh. "Nevertheless, I'll help him when I get back. Although it's true that there isn't much information coming in from the Living World, which is quite unusual…"

"It seems like that mission is the only thing people can talk about these days." said Matsumoto, with a little annoyance in her voice.

"Well, sure it is!" Shuuhei said, now looking at the stars. "It's like the number one event at the moment. It's not an everyday thing to have three captains in the Living World on the _same_ case at the _same_ time. But come on Rangiku-san, don't act like _you_ don't know that!" he added with a smile, now looking at Matsumoto, who was still staring at the stars.

A barely audible humming sound and a smile was the response. Shuuhei examined Matsumoto's face, trying to decode the expression of her face. Her thoughts seemed to be somewhere else, and he couldn't ignore the change of her expression when the mission was mentioned. For a while none of them said anything.

"Rangiku-san…" he began, breaking the silence "…are you worried about Ichimaru Taicho?"

"What??" icy-blue eyes shot wide open "Why would I be??" Matsumoto asked, looking at him.

"Well.." he began, slightly taken aback by the sudden response. "I know that you and Ichimaru Taicho were childhood friends, and I also heard your conversation with Kira last night. It seemed to me that way… And I'm pretty sure he'd be worried about you if it were the other way around." a small frown appeared on her flawless face, so he added "Well, I'm sure I would be."

"But you're not him, Shuuhei." she said in a firm voice. "And I don't think he would be worried."

Shuuhei searched for something to say, but Matsumoto sighed and continued. "It's true, we go way back. And I was always worried about him. He'd go away, and wouldn't tell me where he was going, which would make me worry even more. But it was never the other way around…"

She paused, looking up at the pitch-black sky again. "But you know, the past consumes you, if you think too much about it. It's all different now. Our friendship ended ages ago, so the answer to you question is no, I do not worry about him. He's a big boy, he doesn't _need_ anyone to worry about him." She paused again, but instantly switched from a serious tone to a cheerful one.

"Oh my, look at me, get so philosophical! _Gomen ne_, I didn't mean to babble such irrelevant things on such a beautiful night!" Matsumoto said laughing.

"That's alright." said Shuuhei, smiling at her. "I don't mind. But you know, if you're not worried, then my next guess would be that you're mad at him."

Matsumoto's expression turned back to serious again, but a lighter shade of red appeared on her cheeks.

"You're thinking way too much, Shuuhei." she said with a smile. Just as she opened her mouth to continue, a Hell Butterfly appeared a few meters away. Hisagi reached his arm out and the butterfly landed on his hand. As soon as they made contact, Hisagi began to say the message out loud.

"Reporting to all Captains and Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13: attend the meeting in the 4th Division main office immediately. The mission in the Living World involving the Second Division Captain, Soi Fong, the Third Division Captain, Ichimaru Gin and the Sixth Division Captain, Kuchiki Byakuya and their respective crews has been ended before the agreed date due to serious injuries among the teams. Number of fatalities: unknown. Injuries among the captains and vice-captains: confirmed."

By the time Hisagi finished the message, they were already walking down the side of the dojo, and hearing the last word, they switched to shunpo. Matsumoto's heart raced faster than her feet; she could feel it in her throat, hear it in her ears.

"I'm sure the captains are alright, Rangiku-san. _All_ of them." said Hisagi, but Matsumoto barely heard him.

All her senses were focused on untangling the _reiatsu _patterns coming from the building of 4th Division, but the closer they got, the more patterns she could feel. Obviously more and more captains and vice-captains appeared in the building.

Zaraki, Hitsugaya, Unohana, Hinamori, Kuchiki, Abarai (though both a little weaker than the rest), and many more, she could sense them clearly. Kira's _reiatsu_ was pulsating in a strange pattern, occasionally blocking the rest. But the one she was searching for… she couldn't find it.

-----

_**- to be continued -**_

_**By: Whisper of the Snow**_

**NOTES:**

**Well, yes, no lemon in this one, so I'm sorry, if that was the**** only reason you decided to read this at all. And I'm honored if you continued reading despite that:3**

**The idea to put Shuuhei in came from the Shinigami Illustrated: Golden (you know, those short, funny scenes at the end of the episodes), where Shuuhei was in charge of putting together that newspaper-thingy, and Matsumoto was late, as usual. :D ****Random, I know.**

**Anyhow, I know this chapter may seem a little off compared to the rest, but I felt it was needed for the plot itself. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I really do hope you had fun reading it, too!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

**Hi guys! Remember this little story? It's been ages, I know… Gomen ne! Many things prevented me from continuing this story, including art-block… :( But I finally figured out how I want the story to continue, and I really do hope that you'll like it!**

**It is your kind notes and reviews that make me want to write more, after all, so I thank you guys for that! -hugs everyone-**

**Bleach – still not mine… :(**

**6. I knew you would be back**

„We were careless." stated the 1st division Captain, just as Matsumoto and Hisagi entered the crowded room.

„Apparently, not all of the 12th Division's reports should be taken for granted." said Kyouraku.

"Don't joke with me!" shot Kurotsuchi back "all of our information was correct! Those captains can only blame themselves for waltzing into that territory without any precaution!"

Matsumoto was panting heavily and absent-mindedly pushed her way through the crowd. But after a few meters she felt someone tug on her uniform, so she unwillingly stopped and tried to free her sleeve.

"Where do you think you're going, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya whispered.

"What happened, Taicho?" asked Matsumoto, ignoring everything else.

Hitsugaya looked her deep in the eye, and took a minute before answering. "They were ambushed." he said finally. "I don't know the details, but it seems there were some hollows with some weird abilities and none of the squad members sensed them, only when it was too late. Kira was attacked first, but Ichimaru saw the hollow right before it jumped on Kira, and managed to block it, but got most of the damage. Soi Fon got beat up pretty badly, too; Kuchiki taicho and Abarai are alright... well, compared to the rest."

Matsumoto looked around the crowd while listening to Hitsugaya, trying to decipher where the injured ones were, but couldn't see because of the other shinigami. The crowd was still increasing, as more people joined them. Soon all of the captains, vice-captains and higher ranked officers were present, and the room was filled with the noise of anxious chattering.

"May I have your attention, please." Unohana's calm but firm voice magically silenced everyone. "Excuse my rudeness, but we need to heal the injured ones, and your presence is disturbing the process."

"Captain Unohana is right." continued the 1st division captain instead of her. "Everybody but the captains head back to your quarters, and wait there for further instructions." The command was loud and clear, yet nobody seemed to want to go, so further instructions were needed from the captains to make their subordinates obey the orders. Kurotsuchi insisted some of his squad members' were allowed to stay, as "they needed to collect data and analyze it as soon as possible".

Matsumoto headed out with the crowd, but quickly took a turn and went around the building to the window where she sensed the injured ones to be. Something just drew her towards that window; what it was, she didn't know.

Curiosity?

Perhaps.

She decided to ignore her motifs, and glanced around the empty garden, to make sure she wasn't going to be caught. As closer she got to the window, the clearer she could feel that the only ones in the room were the injured ones and some members of the 4th division, who were healing them. The captains were obviously in another room, she thought with relief. She really wanted to take a peek, but first tried to make sure she wouldn't be spotted, so she concentrated all her senses on the position of the people.

It seemed to her that the only ones moving around were the healers, so which meant that the injured captains and vice-captains were either lying down or sitting, but not moving around. Matsumoto walked over the window, which was shut. Hopefully, since it was dark outside, they wouldn't see her, yet the light inside allowed her to be able to see everything. She moved slowly, and finally was able to see at least a third of the room. Matsumoto saw a figure lying down, and judging by its smaller frame, she guessed it was Soi Fon. She couldn't see her clearly though, because a healer was squatting in front of her, and a bright green light was glowing above Soi Fon's body.

Matsumoto moved a bit more, and was already able to see half of the room. Next to the other bed, she saw Kira sitting on the floor, head bent down, and sobbing, apparently, although Matsumoto wasn't sure, as the closed window proved to be mostly soundproof.

"_That kinda explains the weird reiatsu pattern though..._" she thought to herself.

Next to Kira she saw another bed with another body on it... and the blood in her veins instantly froze. She couldn't see the entire figure, as three or four healers surrounded it, but she could clearly see the captain's uniform soaked with blood. She didn't blink for the longest time, when something bright-red blocked her view.

"Rangiku-san??" Renji exclaimed, opening the window.

Matsumoto jumped a few meters back, still in shock. Apparently, the image of Ichimaru's blood-soaked figure broke her concentration and she forgot to hide her reiatsu.

"Oh... Renji, I'm glad you're alright!" she said, forcing a smile. "You.. are alright… right?" she added, regaining her focus, and noticing that Renji's body was covered with numerous bandages and a few blood stains.

"Oh yea, I'm fine, they just finished mopping me up. No big deal really. Soi Fon taicho and Ichimaru taicho got it pretty bad though..." he lowered his voice before continuing, "although Kira's nerves may be in _the worst_ condition of all..."

Matsumoto looked at him confused, not sure if he was joking or not, only to decided it would be a pretty inappropriate time to joke about such matters.

"What happened to him?" Matsumoto whispered, coming closer to Renji, so that he could hear her.

"Well, poor bastard blames himself for his captain's injuries; you know just how he is. I think most of his wounds are ok, but he wouldn't st..." Renji was interrupted by the sound of an opening shoji, as somebody entered the room. The 'somebody' were most of the captains, but by the time they all came in, Matsumoto wasn't there any more, and Renji had already closed the window. However the - now locked - window got a few freezing looks from Hitsugaya.

--

Matsumoto made her way back to the 10th division's main building, where she was supposed to be waiting in the first place. Some of the higher seated officers of her division were all there and bowed low as she entered the room.

Nervous silence of anticipation filled the room for the next half an hour or so. Some of the braver members tried asking Matsumoto if she knew any details, but seeing how she probably didn't (or wouldn't tell), they soon gave up, and continued whispering among themselves.

Matsumoto used the spare time to get her thoughts straight. The blood-soaked image she saw earlier wouldn't go away, and a strange feeling in her stomach was twisting her insides.

"_He'll be alright._" she kept repeating to herself. "_And the rest of them too._" she added quickly in her mind, as if feeling guilty for worrying about a single person. "_It's natural, isn't it..._" she continued her inner reasoning, "_childhood friends and all..._" It wasn't working.

(_"Well, what did ya expect? __Ya said there could never be anything between us, so I guess I better go, before ya get mad at me again or sumthin…__"_)

A very different image of Ichimaru crept back into her mind, and her worry was soon replaced with growing anger. A younger member of her division approached her in the worst possible moment.

"Ano, Matsumoto-san..." he began.

"Damn it, NO I do NOT know any details, GOT IT??" she yelled at him, and the poor guy retreated a few steps. Apparently, he just wanted to tell her to come to the other office room, as Captain Hitsugaya has returned. When they got that clear, Matsumoto quickly apologized to the boy, and rushed to the other office.

"Taicho..."

"Well, looks like there's nothing we can do at the moment." Hitsugaya began, as his subordinates encircled him. Matsumoto made her way through the small crowd and was now standing in front of him. "The 12th division needs to make some research and until we know the result we can't do anything. I do have some shorter reports that I need some of you to go through, but looks like most of the work will be delayed until tomorrow."

"Will they be sending more teams to the Living World?" somebody asked.

"Not at the moment." Hitsugaya said.

"Can we volunteer?" asked somebody else.

"Not without my permission." said Hitsugaya.

"What about the injured ones?" asked a girl in the front.

Hitsugaya continued answering their questions, but Matsumoto didn't get any new information, and decided not to push it. Soon Hitsugaya emptied the room and the two of them remained in silence. They spent the next few hours working on the papers they were given, although both of them seemed to take little interest in paperwork at the moment. Couple of hours later Matsumoto dozed off on the couch, and Hitsugaya let her be.

--

When Matsumoto woke up, the sun was already up and Hitsugaya was nowhere to be found.

"_I bet he'll scold __me when he gets back…" _she thought with regret as she stood up to stretch out her sore muscles. She went over to the little bathroom next to the office to freshen up. Just as she finished and went back to the office, she saw Hitsugaya come in. Expecting him to be mad at her for falling asleep, she just stood there, looking at him.

After a few moments of silence and no eye-contact, Hitsugaya simply said: "You can go see him now."

"Eh??" gasped Matsumoto. "Why would I want to…?"

To her great surprise Hitsugaya just sighed and shook his head, causing his white locks to lower a little.

"Fine, then I'm _ordering_ you to go to the 4th Division building and check on the situation." he said.

Matsumoto stared at him for a few long seconds and decided not to push the matter, and left the office.

--

As she approached the 4th Division's main building she expected to see the crowd from yesterday, but only saw a few other shinigami, which made her let out a little sigh of relief.

She stopped a member of the 4th division for information, but all she could find out was that Captain Unohana and Vice-captain Isane were not in the building, and the other officers were busy elsewhere, so she couldn't talk to them, but she was told that she was free to visit the injured ones.

"Although," the healer added, "Kuchiki taicho along with Abarai fuku-taicho have already left the healing station, and Soi Fon taicho is currently in treatment, so go to the section number 4, where you'll find Ichimaru taicho and Kira fuku-taicho."

Matsumoto thanked the shinigami and went into the building. She found the room pretty quickly, and after hesitating for a single moment, knocked on the door. She heard Kira answer so she went in.

The room was pretty small with only a few futons lying around, all empty but the two on which Ichimaru and Kira were placed. Kira was sitting on the edge of his futon, facing his taicho, who was lying down; unconscious or asleep, Matsumoto couldn't tell.

"Ohayo, Rangiku-san." greeted Kira, but the usual cheerful tone of his was completely missing.

"Ohayo Kira-kun… How are you feeling?" she asked in a concerned tone. She knelt down beside him, half-way facing him and Ichimaru.

"Pretty fine, thank you… it wasn't me who took that attack anyway." he said in a defeated voice.

"I've heard about it Kira, and I'm sure that you don't have anything to blame yourself for. Just be grateful you got away with those scars only."

"But the taicho…" he began, looking at Ichimaru.

Before searching for further soothing words, Matsumoto looked at Ichimaru, whose eyes were still closed. His captain uniform was discarded, and his naked torso was bandaged almost all over. His hakama that was left on was torn in many places, but it seemed like he took most of the injuries on his upper body.

Realizing she was staring without saying anything for too long, Matsumoto continued: "This is how things work, Kira. Captains protect their subordinates; that is their job, among other things."

"I hope he'll be alright…" said Kira, and Matsumoto wasn't sure if he had heard her.

"He will." she said, and realized how Kira reminded her of a big kid sometimes.

"Were you worried, too, Rangiku-san?" he asked, finally looking at Matsumoto. The teary bright-blue eyes left her no other option but to say:

"…Of course."

"I thought so." he said, a tiny smile appearing on his face. "I need to go outside for a little while, do you mind watching the captain for me until then?"

"I don't think he needs to be watched really…" Matsumoto began, but Kira interrupted her.

"Please, Rangiku-san! He may wake up and need something, you know…" he reasoned clumsily.

"Uhh…" Matsumoto sighed, not sure she actually wanted to be around when he woke up.

She heard Kira close the door behind her and adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position. Matsumoto looked around the room, slightly annoyed, when she suddenly felt a hand on her wrist.

"I'm really touched, ya know."

Matsumoto looked at Ichimaru, who still kept his eyes closed, but his trademark-grin appeared on his pale face.

"You…" Matsumoto exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "Since when were you awake??"

"A while now… was wonderin how much long'r will it take for Izuru to cry again, but then you came in, and t'is proved to be much more fun."

Matsumoto forcefully freed her wrist, anger spreading throughout her veins.

"Who the hell do you think you are?? That poor guy actually cares about you and is blaming himself for everything, and you're just making fun of him?? You can't treat others like that, especially those who care for you! But you're just selfish that way, aren't you?"

"I never promis'd anything, ya know." He stated, opening his eyes just a little.

"Eh?" Matsumoto wasn't sure what they were talking about any longer, but suddenly she felt an urge to hit him, and so she did - hitting a spot on his side, not covered by bandages. Ichimaru coughed and tried to sit up, although his coughing was mixed with laughter.

"'the hell, Rangiku… what… was that fo'?" he said.

She didn't reply, as she got so carried away that she decided to hit him again – this time directly into a wound on his upper arm. The pain stopped Ichimaru from laughing and he began cursing, lying back on the futon. He opened his eyes to look at Matsumoto, but found her walking towards the door.

"Wow, that felt good." she said cheerfully. "You know you deserved it though, don't you?" she turned around and met his crimson-gaze.

A few seconds later Matsumoto turned around and opened the door to call for somebody from the 4th division to inform them that "one of Ichimaru taicho's wounds has re-opened".

As the healers ran away to get their equipment, Matsumoto went back to Ichimaru and knelt next to him. She put one hand on his chest and the other one on his head, fisting a hand-full of his silver strands. She bent down to him to get her point through, and whispered: "You're too full of yourself, you know that?"

He looked at her and she felt his crimson gaze pierce through her brain. His grin widened and she felt her heart-beat speed up. Annoyed, she pulled harder on his hair, then suddenly let go and stormed out of the room, nearly knocking over the poor healer that rushed in.

She faintly heard his voice behind her back;

"I'll see ya later then!" he said.

She tried to block it out.

_**- To be continued -**_

_**By: Whisper of the Snow**_

_**End notes: Ehehe… hope it didn't turn out too emo for you guys… I had so much fun writing this one! **_

_**Sorry, no sexual M-rated stuff this time… **__**I believe the next chapter will be more suited for that kind of stuff! ;) **_

_**Please tell me what you think! **_

_**-bows-**_


End file.
